Category Archives: Property News

Sellers are letting go of their properties, even if they have to incur seller’s stamp duty. However, they generally wait until the SSD falls to 4% in the fourth year of purchase. Based on the latest revision of the SSD measure, homeowners who purchased their houses on or after Jan 14, 2011 and resold them within four years of the date of purchase are required to pay SSD. The SSD rates vary with the holding period, at 16%, 12%, 8% and 4% within the first, second, third and fourth years from the date of purchase respectively.

Table

Source: URA, The Edge Property

The number of sellers who paid 4% SSD grew from 200 in 2014 to 244 between January and November this year. On the other hand, only 68 sellers let go of their properties within three years of purchase in 2015, when SSD rates were hefty at between 8% and 16% (see table).

There could be several factors behind this. First, sellers might prefer to hold cash or other liquid assets in the current market so they can re-enter the market when property prices bottom.

The number of sellers who paid 4% SSD in 2014 and 2015 had purchased the properties in 2011 and 2012 and most of them netted a profit even after paying the 4% SSD.

Second, sellers who do not wish to hold on to their properties, for financial or other reasons, might do well to offload them now rather than next year, in case prices drop further. Prices of private non-landed homes have fallen an average of 1% a quarter since 3Q2013’s peak. If this trend continues or worsens, sellers might be better off incurring the 4% SSD now instead of waiting another year and risk selling their properties at lower prices as a result of a higher supply in the market.

Third, there are sellers who are forced to let go of their properties because of the soft rental environment and interest rate hikes. These properties might be sold at a loss or within the first three years of purchase. The proportion of unprofitable transactions moves in tandem with the decline in SSD rates, declining from 80% at 16% SSD rate in the first year to 22% at 4% SSD rate in the fourth year and 12% on the fifth year, when SSD is lifted (see chart).

The findings are based on matched URA’s resale and subsale caveats for private non-landed homes as at Nov 24, 2015, with their previous transactions on or after Jan 14, 2011.

Chart

Source: URA, The Edge Property

Investors pressured to offload shoebox and large units

Projects with the highest number of resale transactions in the fourth year of purchase were Parc Rosewood, A Treasure Trove and Ripple Bay, with 19, 11 and 10 resale caveats respectively. Interestingly, these caveats involved mostly shoebox units.

The eagerness to offload shoebox units as soon as SSD fell to 4% in the fourth year could have been motivated by a soft rental market, yield compression and the interest rate hike. In addition, shoebox units in the mass-market continue to face strong competition from HDB flats for tenants. Based on our basket of properties, monthly rents for shoebox units in the mass-market were estimated to have fallen 21%, or more than $500, from $2,552 in 3Q2013 to $2,016 in 3Q2015.

In fact, URA data shows that monthly rents for a 400 to 500 sq ft unit at Parc Rosewood averaged just $1,657 in 3Q2015. Parc Rosewood was completed in 2014. Similar-sized units commanded an average monthly rent of $1,815 in 3Q2014. Over the course of one year, the average rent for shoebox units in the development has fallen 8.7%.

At A Treasure Trove, 58% — or seven of 12 caveats — were for 775 sq ft units, the smallest apartments in the project. Although the project was completed this year, there is evidence of rental decline within the course of just a few months. For example, 700 to 800 sq ft units were let at an average monthly rent of $2,367 in July. Similar units fetched an average monthly rent of $2,230 in October, reflecting a 6% decline over a period of three months.

On a more positive note, all the transactions at Parc Rosewood, A Treasure Trove and Ripple Bay were profitable after accounting for the 4% SSD payable, as the sellers had purchased the properties at attractive prices in 2011.

Larger units are also likely to be the most affected by the interest rate hike and soft rental environment. In dollar terms, Reflections at Keppel Bay accrued the most SSD from Jan 14, 2011, amounting to $1.81 million for seven resale caveats. Four caveats were for units measuring between 1,200 and 2,207 sq ft. The Minton trailed closely with $1.29 million for 18 resale caveats, with an average unit size of 1,159 sq ft.

The highest SSD incurred for a single transaction was for a 3,821 sq ft unit at Four Seasons Park, amounting to $1.14 million in SSD.

At least 18,145 non-landed homes to be freed from SSD in 1H2016

Based on our study, 18,145 non-landed homes will no longer be subject to SSD in 1H2016, as their holding periods cross the four-year mark. Of these, 1,574 units will be located in Core Central Region, 4,164 units in Rest of Central Region and 12,407 units in Outside Central Region. Some of these units could turn out to be value deals, as the owners who are under pressure to sell have weaker bargaining power.

The top three projects with at least 100 shoebox units entering the fifth year of their holding period are Parc Rosewood, Guillemard Edge and Casa Cambio.

*Credit to The Edge Singapore
This article appeared in The Edge Property Pullout, Issue 708 (December 21, 2015) of The Edge Singapore.

Share this:

Like this:

The sixth stage of the Circle Line (CCL6), which will link up Harbourfront and Marina Bay stations, will have three stations: Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward.

This will “close the loop” of the line, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Thursday (Oct 29), as it announced the alignment and station locations of the CCL6. The project will be completed by 2025.

It will cost $3.7 billion to build the 4km underground line and stations, and another $2.3 billion to expand the current Kim Chuan depot to stable more trains.

With the CCL6, commuters can enjoy a more direct route to the Central Business District, the Marina Bay Area and Harbourfront.

HDB and MND have just announced a $20k grant with relatively few restrictions — Proximity Housing Grant (PHG). This will replace the Higher-Tier CPF Housing Grant.

The PHG grant is to help Singaporeans buy a resale flat, with or near their parents or married child.

Starting immediately, eligible Singaporeans will receive a Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) of S$20,000; eligible singles will get a Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) of S$10,000 if they buy a resale flat with their parents.

Good things about this grant –

All Singaporeans are eligible for it once in their lifetime – whether they have enjoyed housing subsidies before ( those whom get higher tie HDB grant before are also eligible YEAH ), regardless what their household income is or whether they own private property

This PHG grant has NO income ceiling

HDB Proximity Housing Grant (PHG)

Higher Income Ceilings

Also announced in the same press release are changes to the income ceilings for citizen households buying HDB flats (new and resale) and Executive Condominiums (new). The new ceilings are respectively: $12k for HDB flats and $14k for ECs. This means more people are now eligible to buy these HDB housing units. It shows that MND and HDB are committed to helping Singaporeans own a flat, particularly young couples setting up their first homes.

Property developers and homeowners hoping that the cooling measures will be relaxed soon will have to wait longer after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it is still premature to ease the policies, reported Today Online.

“Property prices have softened somewhat, but like I said last year, in the context of the price increase that had occurred — 60 percent over three years — the softening we have seen is really not all that much. So, it’s still premature to consider removing any of the cooling measures that are in place,” explained MAS managing director Ravi Menon at a media briefing on Tuesday.

Private home prices started climbing steeply in mid-2009 before peaking in Q3 2013. The introduction of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework in June 2013 saw the market gradually decline.

Based on flash estimates by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), prices of private units dipped 0.9 percent in Q2, or the seventh consecutive quarter of price falls since the 2013 peak. However, prices corrected by less than seven percent from their record high.

“It is fair from the point of view of a policy stance aimed at re-engineering home affordability. The property market cooling is happening in an orderly fashion, and it is prudent to allow this to continue,” said Barclays economist Leong Wai Ho.

“Based on the still-strong reaction from developers to Government Land Sale tenders and the decent response to some of the new launches, this is probably not the correct time to be easing curbs,” he noted.

Menon’s views mirror that of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

Last October, Mr Tharman stated that “prices have some distance to go in achieving a meaningful correction”, while Mr Khaw mentioned it was not the right time to ease the cooling measures since there is still room for property prices to moderate.

Share this:

Like this:

Owners planning to sell their Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats would be wise to study the supply situation and avoid certain peak periods which may weaken their bargaining position. These peak seasons may arise when buyers of executive condominium (EC) dispose their existing HDB flats once they receive keys to their new homes. For instance, more than 6,000 EC units are expected to be completed in 2018, putting the year in the alert zone.

Under HDB rule, upgraders must sell their existing HDB flat within six months from the issuance of the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) for the EC. Buyers whose ECs received TOP in 1Q15, for example, would have to sell their existing HDB flat by 3Q15. Such restriction could result in a surge of HDB resale flats entering the market in certain seasons, tipping the market in favour of buyers and putting sellers in a disadvantaged position.

Surveys on certain EC projects showed that such upgraders may account for more than half of new EC buyers. An anticipated 8,800 HDB resale flats therefore could enter the market from now until 4Q19, based on half the 18,083 EC units receiving TOP between 4Q14 and 4Q19. The bulk of these or 3,400 resale flats will come on-stream in 2018, followed by 1,800 units in 2016 (see Table 1 and Figure 1). To put things in perspective, they represent 20% and 11% of total HDB resale volume in 2014 respectively.

Table 1: Estimated TOP dates of EC projects and disposal of HDB flats

Source: Developers, HDB, URA, The Edge Property

Against this backdrop, sellers might consider putting their units on the market this year instead of 2016 to avoid head-on collision with these upgraders. Another incentive in favour of selling this year would be the clipping of Build-To-Order (BTO) supply from 22,455 units in 2014 to 16,900 in 2015. This could potentially draw buyers back to the resale market and reverse the downtrend in prices. According to latest statistics from HDB, prices of resale flats have declined for seven consecutive quarters for a total of 9.2% from 2Q13’s peak to 1Q15.

Figure 1: Projected supply of HDB resale flats disposed by EC buyers

Source: HDB, URA, The Edge Property

Those looking to sell on a longer time horizon might wish to note several window periods where supply from upgraders would be on a low ebb such as the second half of 2017. Barring any changes in market sentiments, it might be prudent for sellers to err on the side of caution and avoid peak periods that might psychologically empower buyers and put pressure on prices.

The year 2018 will see a strong surge in supply from upgraders of ECs that are currently being marketed such as The Amore,Bellewaters, Bellewoods, Lake Life and The Terrace. Eight more EC projects are expected to be launched this year.

Bloomberg data showed the three-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor), the rate at which banks lend to one another and is a widely used measure of the cost of funds, was fixed at 0.62052% at 11.30am on Tuesday (Jan 6), up from 0.57762% on Monday. This may be possibly increasing monthly repayments by a few hundreds of dollars, depending on the value of the home. The benchmark rate had been flatlining for much of the first half of last year until it began its slow rise from August, then rose steadily as the United States dollar rallied.

The lending rate is reviewed every three months. Assuming mortgage rates in Singapore rise to 2 per cent from around 1.5 per cent currently, a home buyer with an outstanding loan of S$500,000 and 20 years remaining will need to pay around S$2,530 a month, up from S$2,410. Should the rate rise to 3 per cent, the monthly payment will increase to S$2,770.

Ms Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC, said at a seminar organised by the bank yesterday: “I project that SIBOR will be close to 0.7 per cent at mid-year and will rise to between 1 and 1.2 per cent by the end of the year.”

If interest rates rise at a slow and steady pace, home owners will be able to adjust. But if it is unwieldy and volatile, then that makes it a bit more tricky, because what you are seeing now is some correction in terms of property prices. Buyers whom overstretched and overleveraged might be more exposed to interest rate hikes. Thank god TDSR have been in place to prevent bubbles from forming. Total Debt Servicing Ratio framework will lower the risk of bad debt . It uses an implied interest rate of 3.5 per cent to calculate applicants’ loan eligibility.

Share this:

Like this:

Dear readers, it’s time again to look back on our HDB market in 2014. Is it doing good? According to the Statistic from the HDB and major property firms, the Top 10 most expensive HDB sold till date for the year 2014 all transacted above $900000 (AGAIN ) We have 2 HDB units crossed the 1 Million dollar physiological benchmark.

Guys, if you are staying in Bishan, congrats. Out of the Top 10 Most Expensive HDB flat in Singapore, 5 came from Bishan. And 2 of them has transacted $1000000 or above. Frankly speaking, Bishan is very convenience with 2 MRT lines and various famous school are located there. No wonder it is so popular among Singaporean.

To know how much your property worth in today’s market, simply ‘LIKE‘ my Facebook page & SMS me 98803768 with the following details. I shall present you a detail report on your property.

Prices of private properties in Singapore fell by 4.79 percent during the first nine months of 2014, compared to an annual increase of 2.1 percent in the same period last year, revealed a report from Global Property Guide.

On a quarterly basis, prices of private units dipped by 0.38 percent in Q3 from the previous three months.

At the same time, residential demand in the city-state is dropping. The report stated that sales of housing units plunged 38.6 percent to 1,465 units in the third quarter from last year, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Singapore’s economy is also slowing, with forecasts of 2.96 percent growth this year, down from 3.9 percent in 2013, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Of the 10 Asian markets tracked in the report, only Singapore and China saw house prices decline during the year.